help I have to sell my current house before I buy my next one where do I
start this is a question I get all the time stay tuned and I'll give you my
tips
hey everybody Melanie Atkinson here realtor with Smith & Associates in
beautiful Tampa Bay Florida do you remember when you bought your very first
home and you were nervous about the process but you made it through and you
got two closing day all you had to do was worry about being a buyer in that
transaction now you want to move to your second third or fourth home and now you
have to worry about being both a buyer and a seller you need the equity from
your current home to purchase the next one now the stress is multiplied add to
that a cross-country move to a city you don't know and that stress can be almost
crippling and how do I know that because I talk to a lot of you so today I'm
gonna do my best to help you tip number one understand your finances there's a
difference between needing to sell your current home to buy the next one and one
team to sell your current home before you buy the next one of course you don't
want to pay two mortgages nobody does but if you can technically qualify to
purchase your next home without selling your other home that is a different
financial situation than those who have to sell the house in order to qualify
for the loan on their next house if you fall into the category of wanting to
sell your house before you buy the next one then you have a little bit more
freedom when it comes to purchasing your home you don't have to use the same
contingencies that somebody would have to use who has to sell their house this
will give you a leg up in negotiations especially in sellers markets sellers in
that type of market do not want to worry about whether your other house sells or
not they probably have other buyers that want to purchase their house that don't
have that contingency now you can still sell your current home and use those
proceeds the difference is it's not contingent on you selling that house to
buy the next one and that is a big difference so if you fall in the other
category and you need to sell your home in order to qualify for your next one
you are certainly not alone that's most buyers however what you need to
understand that in order to protect your escrow
posit your offers for the next home are going to be contingent on the sale of
your current home this is an additional contingency that not all buyers have
it's an extra hurdle in closing a lot of sellers would really prefer to not have
to worry about that extra contingency from their buyer a buyer that doesn't
have another home to sell is much less risky however it's okay
if your offer is the only one that the seller has and your terms are good then
most sellers will accept it so don't worry
I do want you all to know that it does get trickier in a multiple offer
situation so set your expectations accordingly tip number two don't put the
cart before the horse the cart in this scenario is your next home the horse is
your current home if you can't buy that home without selling your current home
then you really need to focus on the current home sale it is so easy for
people to be overwhelmed and I want to be excited about their next city or
their next move that they spend tons of time focusing and researching online
which is great I know that's probably why a lot of you are even watching this
channel to begin with however in the beginning of the process you really need
to spend most of your time and energy focus on the sale of your current house
because you can't move to that new city and buy that bigger house until you sell
that one so spend the majority of your time focused on getting that house ready
so all the things that you need to do decluttering and repair the items that
need to be repaired get your agent involved in your current
city to come over and give you advice on what to do to prep your house and do all
of those things it can be really time-consuming and it might take longer
than what you think so start now and when you have extra time you can
absolutely go browsing online and look for houses in your new city watch videos
on your new city get excited about the move but the priority has to be getting
your house ready for sale so you can sell it quickly and for the most money
tip number three if you're moving to a new city you need to find an agent in
that city so in the beginning of the process is for you to do your first
reach out to agents in your new city now some people are moving and they have a
real Oh company helping them that gives them an agent
and other people are just flying blind if you're one of those people that does
have a real Oh agent please keep in mind that you do have a say in the agent that
they give you if you are having issues with your agent make sure you call your
reloj rep and they should be able to help you out and as you all know all
agents are not created equal so you do need to do your due diligence if you
aren't using a relocation company and you have an agent in your current city
that you love ask him or her who they would recommend in your new city there's
a good chance they have referral partners or you can ask your co-workers
in your new city if they have anybody that they would recommend you can even
contact me regardless of the city are moving to my brokerage has a whole
network of referral partners around the country that we can set you up with a
great agent when you reach out to the agent be very specific about the things
that are important to you and listen to that agent for feedback that agent
should be able to focus your online searches to areas that best fit your
needs you will also be able to put together a
plan for your in-person visits which is tip number four visiting with a purpose
if you have enough time before your move to take multiple trips to your new city
please take advantage of that and if you have that time your first trip to your
new city should be an introduction trip not a house hunting trips why not a
house hunting trip because if you aren't a ready buyer the houses that you're
seeing now are probably not going to be available whenever you are ready
however touring neighborhoods talking with builders and getting an overall
feel for the city is really the best use of your time just remember that if
you're talking to builders and your agent is not with you just let them know
that you are working with an agent so it doesn't cause problems down the road
now you can visit it as many times as you like but your last visit will
obviously be the home-buying visit and when you come for that one your current
home should be under contract now why does it have to be under contract that
brings me to tip number five making offers you know which neighborhood you
want to be in you've been keeping track of the inventory coming on and off the
market and most importantly your current house is under contract you are now
ready to buy you set out with your capable real estate agent to find the
perfect house and remember what I said earlier about the contingency because
you have to sell your house to buy next one there may be sellers that don't
want that extra hurdle with your contingency try not to be offended by
that most builders are totally fine with the contingency so new construction is
an option for you if your current home that's under contract has already
undergone inspections and appraisals make sure you're letting the sellers and
their listing agents know that because that means you're farther along in the
process and your contingency is a little less risky at that point and don't be
surprised if the listing agent in your new city wants to contact your agent in
your old city to double-check on that contract to make sure everything's
moving smoothly tip number six navigating the move timing is super
important when you're dealing with two transactions I always advise to make
sure you have a fairly long escrow period on the sale of your current house
45 to 60 days works even a little bit longer if you can you need that time to
get to your new city to find the house to put it under contract and have enough
time to process your next loan if you're gonna have a moving company make sure
you consult with them early on and find out approximately how long it will take
them to get from your current city to your new city if it's a few days then
that gives you plenty of time to close on your old house pack up your car drive
to your new city by that time the money will be posted and you can close on your
new house hopefully if everything works out great the furniture truck will show
up shortly thereafter I do have clients that try to do back-to-back closings and
they work they're definitely doable but they are stressful because if there's
any hiccup there have been times where furniture trucks have literally been
sitting outside of a house with nowhere to unload it
in summary selling while buying is tricky but it's definitely doable
getting agents to help you during the process is key and also focusing on the
sale before you focus on the buy side once your house is ready then you can
get super excited about your new city remember that the more desirable your
current house is the more control you're going to have over the process of that
closing you'll get a higher price you'll be able to ask for a log or escrow
period and everything will go smoother if you're looking for something else to
watch on my channel check out my video called 5 home selling pitfalls you need
to avoid happy house hunting everybody and thank you so much for watching with
love Melanie